You don’t need ventilation if you just open a window.
While fresh air is great, cracking open a window just isn’t enough to properly vent your kitchen space. For instance, you can’t control the uniformity of your air circulation: Mother Nature is always changing wind speed and direction, not to mention temperature! And no one wants the window to stay open for too long during the winter deep freeze. In addition, open windows let in all sorts of dust, pollen and noise, resulting in low air quality.
You can always trust what the manufacturer says about product performance.
You’ve heard the saying: you can’t always believe what you read. Well, that goes for product promotion, too. Some manufacturers have been known to exaggerate the performance of their products, so it is always best to go with a Home Ventilation Institute (HVI)-certified product. That’s your guarantee that the product will perform as indicated.
More powerful fans cost more.
Modern ventilation systems are highly efficient, both in performance and in energy usage. Look for the Energy Star Label and you can’t go wrong!
All kitchen fans are noisy.
Modern fans are as quiet as they are powerful. Look for products with HVI-certified sound ratings of 1.0 sones or less for very quiet ventilation.
A quality fan will work well no matter how it is installed.
Even the best fan won’t work if it isn’t installed properly. Install as per the manufacturer’s instructions and use adequate duct runs that are as short and straight as possible, with tightly sealed connections.